Since we last checked in with Kyle Hyatt, he’s had a few major changes in life. Most people would consider the big one to be a new job as the News and Features Editor at Roadshow by CNET. I, on the other hand, think he’s got a much more important update – he just bought a new bike! Let’s find …
Video Intermission – Hollywood’s Greatest Stunts: Gary Davis
In Tuesday’s post about the fascinating Trackmaster-built Vincent Rapide, Tim shared a video about stuntman Gary Davis. The first half of the clip had a fantastic look at the motorcycle stunts in Terminator 2. In case you weren’t interested in the bike and missed out on the video, I wanted to make sure you still had a chance to check …
10 Boy Racers in Germany – Collection of AJS 7Rs
1-3-18 Update: Nearly a year later, Tim Huber has found that this collection is still for sale (but now the asking price has been reduced by over $200k). It’s now available on Hemmings for $530,000 or best offer. At this year’s Retromobile show in Paris, an incredible collection of 10 AJS 7R race bikes stood out among a sea of …
Frankenbike “Landspeed Chopper” – 1994 Ducati M900
I love me a good oddball motorcycle. The sheer number of bikes floating around out there guarantees quite the variety of bizarre two-wheeled creations. Case in point: this 1994 Ducati M900 that’s been chopperized and turned into an admittedly imaginative albeit unorthodox frankenbike. Not much info is available on this one, but the photos more or less speak for themselves, …
Trackmaster Build – 1952 Vincent Rapide
99 percent of the time, modifying a 1952 Vincent isn’t remotely acceptable. Enter: the elusive one percent. This motorcycle is ridiculously noteworthy for a multitude of reasons; its frame, its powerplant, its previous owner(s), its components and hand-built parts, the list goes on. What you’re looking at is a “Lightning-ized” Rapide V-Twin stuffed into a Trackmaster flat tracker frame, then …
Triumph and Tribulations – Exploring the UK, Day 10
June 26th, 2017 – Carlisle, England to Birmingham, England: ~230 miles Missed Day 9? June 25th, 2017 – Pathhead, Scotland to Carlisle, England: ~170 miles Thankfully, our Triumph Explorer is still in the parking lot in the morning. This was the one morning when I was concerned about the safety of our bike, and as soon as I woke up …
Video Intermission – Look at Life’s “Horse-power Riders”
I enjoyed the “Look at Life” video from yesterday so much that I had to explore the other features they created on British motorcycling back in the 60s. This is called “Horse-power riders”, and it’s a more general look at the variety of two-wheelers found in the UK at the time. Look at the braking test the students have to …
Video Intermission – MotoTrek: Quality YouTube for ADV Nerds
MotoTrek: Quality YouTube for ADV nerds Because you can and should ride to more places than your local coffee shop. By Kyle Hyatt So, as some of you might know, I bought a big-ass (mid-sized) adventure bike and now I’m riding it daily in Los Angeles [Editor’s Note: More on this later!]. It’s my first bike and by far its …
Paso Powered – 1983 Ducati TT1 Replica
Ducati’s TT1 was a 748cc race bike based on the iconic TT2, a bike that dominated in competition and won multiple world championships. The TT1 ultimately wouldn’t be as successful as its predecessor, but the 750 was nonetheless a solid racer. Different sources make different claims but depending on who you ask somewhere between 50 and 60 TT1 racers were …
One Year Only Tiddler – 1970 Yamaha G6S 80
Yamaha’s G6S was a one-year only tiddler produced in 1970. Despite its short production run, it was a relatively popular model in Europe, often referred to as “bellycrawlers” due to the way riders would lay across the tank to ring out every last MPH. Everything about the G6 is pretty basic, but that was by design. By using a collection …
10 Most Popular Bike-uriosities of 2017
View PostMono-Body “Midi-Bike” – 1970 Muskin El Gato
The Muskin El Gato is one funky little scoot. Muskin Corp was aiming to nab a piece of the then-increasingly lucrative small-displacement trail bike market. The company’s strategy was to create a truly unique machine that would stand out from the crowd of other mini offerings and regardless of Muskin’s success, it’s hard to deny the efficacy of said strategy. …
Video Intermission – Look at Life’s “Scrambling for it”
“Find a bumpy track, add some tough motorbikes and riders, and mix well. The result? A Scramble.” That’s how this lovely short film about 60s scramblers commences. I’ve featured a few classic British scramblers over the years and it’s always fun to see them competing. I think you’re going to enjoy this one!
Out of Office – Cuba
View PostPing King – 1986 Honda CR500
When first released, Honda’s CR500 was its most powerful MXer ever produced, though that power was wildly difficult to tame. The CR was nonetheless a major success and Honda opted to keep the half-liter thumper in production for more than a decade prior to be being phased out in 2001 upon the rise of the four-stoke machines and the company’s …